Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

Title: Innocent Traitor
Author: Alison Weir
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 416
Rating: 3/5 Stars

I know a lot about Tudor England - both the fantasies created by historical fiction authors and Hollywood, as well as the factual history of the time. I'm by no means an expert, but my working knowledge made me pretty well-versed in Lady Jane Grey and her lamentably short reign as Queen of England before I began reading Innocent Traitor.

This book took me awhile to read, partly because of personal stuff and partly because I didn't find the first half particularly compelling. There was little besides my own determination that prompted me to turn each page and see what happened next. I hate to blame that on the author, though, because I really don't want to fault her for the fact that I knew the subject matter. That said, I think the fault does lie within the subject matter.

Lady Jane Grey, though incredibly smart and well-educated, was boring. Tragically boring. She was used as a puppet from the day she was born until the day she was executed. Because of her sex, her faith, her age and her station, she had no control over anything. She was utterly powerless. Her entire life was one, big, disappointing tragedy and what I will say for Ms. Weir is that she does an excellent job of hammering that point home. Where Elizabeth Tudor used her intelligence to navigate what could easily be described as the most perilous heritage and early life imaginable, Jane does very little to direct her own course, differing instead to her religious convictions and duty to obey - her parents, her sovereign, her elders, her faith. Jane's faith is her guiding light and as admirable as that was, it was also infuriating how it kept her from ever taking any personal action on her own behalf. There were times I almost put down the book because I just couldn't deal with her anymore. She suffered her trials like the Protestant martyr she later became, but that's all she did, and knowing how it would all end, it nearly became too much.

Reading Innocent Traitor has made me question my future reading habits. I'm going to think very carefully about whether or not I'll pick up the next novelization of an actual historical figure - especially one who has a tragic end. There is merit in Jane's story. Her unwavering faith is something to be admired regardless of religious affiliation and her grace in the face of death is inspiring.

But it is the injustices and the frailities of the human race that leave the lasting impression and I'm not sure how often I really need to be reminded of how cruel we can be to each other. Even taking into account that Innocent Traitor is a work of fiction, the sad truth is, Jane was executed. Ms. Weir may have taken creative license with the steps that brought her to the chopping block on February 12th, 1554, but steps were taken and I have no trouble believing that Ms. Weir came close to reality. Lady Jane Grey died as she lived, a political pawn in a game she wished no part of.

Since, I don't want to end this review on a dire note, from a techincal standpoing, I liked how Ms. Weir used a shifting first person narrative. Every major player had the opportunity for their viewpoint, their voice, to be heard and it made for a fairly well-balanced story. I am not inclined to ever sympathize with Queen Mary, but it was hard to hate her in this novel, despite her actions.

I'd really like to give this book 3.5 stars because it is a thoroughly researched and vividly imagined novel. Subject matter aside, I enjoyed Ms. Weir's style and I will definitely try her other works.

Review: The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

Title: The Mockingbirds
Author: Daisy Whitney
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 332
Rating: 4/5 Stars

The best thing Daisy Whitney does with The Mockingbirds is dive right in to the action. The story starts the morning after a night Alex Patrick can't remember and plows ahead relentlessly to the resolution. It stays tight and focused with every chapter tying back to that night. As I reader, I appreciated that because the subject of date-rape is heavy enough without being mired down by the other drama of high school. I think the narrow focus also highlighted the fact that for half a semester, Alex's world revolved around one thing - that night and all the doubts, fears and anxiety that went with it.

World building is always a big thing for me and Whitney's Themis Academy is a fascinating, isolated organism. While it's deplorable that the students attend a school that they know with certainty only cares about maintaining its reputation, I'm glad of it because it brought about the necessity for The Mockingbirds. Secret organizations are a dime a dozen, but it's rare to find one that is not only supposed to do good, but actually does. My favorite moments in the book were the ones where I found out more about the studen-run justice system.

Alex is a very relatable protagonist. A good girl, but nobody's saint, I felt for her as she struggled to come to terms with not only what happened, but her own memories of what happened. Her courage is believable, enough to impress me in a 17-year-old, but not stretch the boundaries of credibility. Carter, her accused date-rapist, was painted with a careful brush in that while he's - as one character so aptly puts it - a douche, he's not an evil sexual predator. He's a guy who has probably had everything handed to him and didn't think for a moment Alex wouldn't appreciate his advances.

If I had to critique anything it would be the depiction of Alex's friends and the Mockingbirds themselves. They seemed a little...too perfect. They all handled themselves in the situation with such ease - a finesse I don't think I'd be capable of now at thirty, let alone when I was in high school. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop - for one of her friends (Maia in particular) to flip and show her true evil colors, but maybe I've read/watched too many teen dramas. ;p

The ending of this novel was very satisfying, but not tied up in a little bow so neat it felt unrealistic. Ms. Whitney has a sequel coming out in 2012, The Rivals, that I will definitely check out.

Review: The Awakening by L.J. Smith (Rant included)

Title: The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries #1)
Author: L.J. Smith
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 320
Rating: 3/5 Stars

I liked this book, but it's a warm-up for the real story that is coming in the rest of the series.

Stefan was too weak for my taste. In this mythology vampires can drink from their victims without draining them. Stefan refuses to drink human blood and abhors himself for even craving it. I don't understand that. Yes, he's kind of a parasite, but he doesn't have to kill anybody to get what he needs (unlike in the Twilight series where the vamps drain their victims. That I understand) so why does he hate himself so much? Silly.

I wasn't sure how I would like Elena given how she seemed to have no redeeming qualities in the beginning, but she actually does have depth and while she's got a very high opinion of herself, she doesn't go around deliberately hurting people. She's not a Mean Girl, she's just knows who she is.

Damon wasn't in it enough to really form an opinion, but I'm inclined to like the bad boys.

Katherine was ridiculous. Apparently, it wasn't just the aging process that was stunted when she became a vamp, her emotional maturity ceased to develop as well. I do not think she's worth all this strife between the brothers at all.

Bonnie and Meredith are good friends to Elena and bravo to them for calling her on her secrecy regarding Stefan.

I don't have much to say about the story. Like I said, it's a warm-up for the real drama. I will be reading the next book.

7/11 Update: I read this...February 2010 and at the time I did intend on reading the whole series. In light of the fact that L.J. Smith was fired by HarperCollins last winter/spring because her vision wasn't what they wanted, I will not be reading any of the other books.

Let's get this out of the way first, L.J. Smith will not be winning any awards for her prose. She's not that talented a writer. As my friend at The Irish Banana Review put it: the demands of her audience matured, her writing style did not. So, my boycotting of the books has nothing to do with L.J. Smith's talent.

What pisses me off is why she was fired. Yes, she was hired to write a series for HarperCollins and technically they own it, but I think it's bullshit that they can interfere in her artistic vision. She made The Vampire Diaries a marketable entity and put it in a position of being popular enough to be brought to the silver screen, thus bringing in even more money making opportunities for HarperCollins. Now, after all that, they want to dictate to her what she can do with the characters she created? Good for her for saying no. Bad on them for firing her over it.

I have no interest in reading something I know was mandated by a publishing company. Whether it happens elsewhere is irrelevant. This is a case of ignorance being bliss. When I read a book I want to live under the assumption that the plot has been created by an author, not dictated by some suits in an office who don't give a crap about words, plot or character and only about numbers on a page.

Of course, there's also the little fact that the publishers demanded the triangle between Damon/Elena/Stefan go the opposite direction of what I want. I won't deny that, but even if that weren't the case I'd have a hard time enjoying the plot knowing that it wasn't the original author's intention. It would seem a hollow victory.

So...farewell Vampire Diaries books. I'll stick to the tv show.